☕️𝒜𝑅𝒞 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌☕️

𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓣𝓮𝓪 by @author_brendajackson

🗓️ April 1, 2025

📄 352

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mama Laverne is 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝑒𝒶… and it’s 𝕡𝕚𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕠𝕥! ☕️

Zoey Pritchard, an orthopedic surgeon, is in Houston to hopefully uncovered the truth and receive clarity regarding past events that were erased from her memory following an accident that left her an orphan.

Her journey for answers leads her to a Texas ranch, owned by Rancher Chance Madaris. Chance’s great-grandmother has a perfect record at match making and Chance’s match may just be the new girl in town.

Ok. Mama Laverne is the GOAT! Not only is she the perfect match maker but she secretly holds all the secrets of the past.

Spilling the Tea was such a refreshing and fun read. The Madaris family was absolutely hilarious and I loved, LOVED the bonds this family shared. I throughly enjoyed the hesitation in the beginning that slowly blossomed. Chance and Zoey were such a delight. Mama Laverne, again, was an absolute jewel in this story. This was Brenda Jackson’s 150th published booked so it was no surprise that this incredible story flowed so well and kept me intrigued all the way through. The suspense ending was a fantastic touch!

🎉 Congratulations @author_brendajackson on such an amazing accomplishment!

@htp_hive @htpbooks @netgalley

*** Will leave Amazon review on release day!

Title: Spilling the tea
Author: Brenda Jackson
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Ron Butler
Publisher: Harlequin Audio and Canary Street
Genre: Romance/Mystery
Audiobook Pub Date scheduled for April 1, 2025.
My Rating: 3.7 Stars
Page 350

Story it story past and present with the POV of Zoey in the present, while the past timeline reveals what happened between the two families and how Mama Laverne came to be the Madaris matriarch.

Story starts with us learning about Zoey.
When Zoey Pritchard was eight, she survived a car accident that took the lives of her mother and father, and was sent to live with her great-aunt who refused to speak about her parents. Zoey has no memory from before the crash, but she’s been having the same dream over and over…
Zoey is an orthopedic surgeon, and finds a link and knows Chance Madaris just might be the person who can help her.
Chance and Zoey immediate feel a connection, but there are secrets that only Mama Laverne knows. She knows these secrets will get in the way but knows the truth needs to be revealed.

About the author~
This is author Brenda Jackson 150th novel! - and my first.
Before the story begins there is a recap of the Masaaris family and other key points in past stories that clarify somethings in this story.
Ms. Jackson is celebrating the accomplishment of having published 150 novels additionally she is the first African-American romance author to make the New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller lists within the series romance genre.
I am a big thriller fan but I was in the mood for a nice sweet romance. This story had more mystery to it that I expected but it was enjoyable.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Audio and CanaryStreet for this audiobook.
Audiobook Publishing Release Date scheduled for April 1, 2025.

I am not usually one to read romance fiction but I love genealogy and also multicultural novels and the description of Spilling the Tea grabbed me. I listened to the audio version in the space of a day. (Very nicely narrated by Ron Butler). The description did not do justice to the story and the story was what kept me interested. While this is a character driven tale, with a young woman seeking information on her family and her life prior to a terrible car accident that killed her parents and left her with serious injuries. Zoe was raised by her father's sister who did not talk much about her parents. Zoey is in her 20s, an orthopedic surgeon and professor at Johns Hopkins. When her aunt dies, she finds some clues about her parents that leads her to a ranch near Houston, Texas and the cantankerous but quite attractive rancher, Chance. He does not trust easily and particularly does not trust women, having been burned after an engagement that went south five years earlier. His "relationships" with women now consist of one time hookups." Zoey is recently out of a relationship and she is more interested in meaningful relationships. Chance unthaws enough to introduce her to his great grandmother, who shares a lot of family history with Zoey. The novel includes present day and historical scenes.

Jackson does a nice job with her characters, setting and plotting, making the ranch and the community come alive. She kept my interest through out. Jackson's overall writing communicates everything well, but is not up to par with her other talents. I got stuck with her repetitive use of some descriptors that a better editing could fix, making the writing flow better. Yet, I am not downgrading for that because I really enjoyed the novel a lot and the audio version was great!